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Published: February 18th 2017
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A trip was planned to drive from Stellenbosch up to the Kruger and back. Its along way!
We had planned a night at the Karoo and then 2 nights at Mokala national park, an endangered species breeding facility which is part of SAN parks.
We had a tree house booked in Mokala, it was amazing, our own watering hole with no neighbours. It was great, the same amazing standard of facility and cleanliness one comes to expect from SAN parks.
We saw many animals coming to our waterhole and enjoyed watching the meerkats from the beds in the morning cleaning out their homes and running around. We did however see the parks and animals at their most desperate, the area was DRY. However all the animals had water to go to, the rain has now come!
We had some great nocturnal sightings, an aardvark and a cheeky porcupine who came up really close to the platform. I had never seen these animals so close and in the wild, we were careful not to shine the torch on them for too long, just long enough for us to check what it was, the porcupine wasn't too bothered though!!
We left Mokala and headed off towards Joburg via Kimberley and The Big Hole diamond mine. If you are in the area I would recommend going to see the museum and take the tour. This is the biggest man made hole and its huge. It was really interesting to hear how De Beers diamonds came about and to see the timeline of events.
From Kimberley we keeper heading towards Joburg and all of a sudden the climate changed and the fields had gone from dry, dusty and golden to lush and green, we got caught in a torrential downpour just outside Soweto.
After a night catching up with friends we collected more of the party from the airport and headed up towards Hazeyview and our next base for a few days, Kruger Lodge. On route we stopped for a stretch of the legs and some refreshments at Auzu (spelling) which is a service station that has rhino amongst other animals, a great place for the kids.
We were extremely fortunate enough to have friends with a house in Kruger lodge who hosted 3 of our party and the rest of us had another house on the complex.
Kruger lodge is an impressive place, perfectly placed if you don't necessarily want to stay in the national park, as Phabeni Gate is just up the road. With in the lodge there is a 9 hole golf course, 2 swimming pools, tennis course, kids play area and a hippo hide. We had a few days relaxing and enjoying the area which included the big kids doing a canopy tour!
We took the drive up to Bourkes Luck Potholes, unfortunately we didn't do our research and so hadn't got our swimming costumes, but we did do a little rock hopping and wading. From the pools we drove to Mac Mac falls. The area has the highest concentration of waterfalls in South Africa. It was time to have a sit down and something to eat and all the water. We had seen a sign to Sabie brewing company!!! So we headed off to find them, we had a great meal and there were plenty of beers and ciders to taste.
We were very aware of how long everyone had been in cars driving around, but when there is so much to see sometimes it just has to be done! The
next day just 2 of us went off to see Gods window, Blyde river canyon and finished with the 3 Rondavels. If you do go in this direction please go to Gods Window first, especially in the rainy season, as the clouds tend to form around lunch time and the view will disappear.
I was a little disappointed in Gods window, I was expecting something different! Non the less the views are outstanding and such a privilege to be able to say you've been there. From here we headed to Blyde River Canyon. A popular spot for families wanting to picnic. It was extremely humid which lead to a hot walk towards the canyon. Its well maintained and if you don't mind a hot bottom a great place to pop you feet in the water to cool off. From there we headed towards the 3 Rondavels. Outstanding views as always with great photo opportunities.
If you do find yourself staying at Kruger Lodge or near by go to Gs, a restaurant near by. Its a great place, great atmosphere, they cater for kids and the food is brilliant!!
We finally got to head into the Kruger park.
Our first camp was Pretoriuskop rest camp. 3 chalets and a camp site. On our journey to the camp we got to see rhino, elephant and buffalo so a great start.
Christmas morning arrived and we had decided to go on an early game drive. So we woke and got ready to leave as the gates opened. The only problem was the sun wasn't up! We had wondered why there weren't many cars at the gate!! Not a great start to Christmas day.
However we had arranged to go back to Kruger Lodge for a festive lunch, this was great and a little surreal.
On the Monday we all headed out with a meeting time of BRUNCH at the trading post. This is a great place to stop and either have a picnic or order food. Baby hyaena's and lions were spotted on our outing.
From Pretoriouskop we headed north towards our next camp, Lataba, via Satara for lunch and a stretch of the legs. Leopards were spotted on route, not great sightings but hey!
We had a massive thunderstorm on the Wednesday night which caused our campsite to flood. The groups in the huts
didn't know it rained until we showed them the pictures of me digging trenches in the rain!!
3 nights at Lataba marked the end of the trip for some of our party, for the rest of us it meant a quiet night in camp and the final move to Phalaborwa Safari Park, just outside of Palaborwa Gate. The accommodation here was great and would have been great to stay another night with the kids, but all good things must come to an end. This final night also marked the end of electricity and comfort for the 2 remaining travellers.
From here, after a brief visit to Hoedsprait to see friends we spent the rest of New Years setting up camp at Tsendze Rest camp. It was such a lovely place. The showers, ope air showers made it for me. Our neighbours, who had been traveling and camping for months were great and gave us tips for our next trips.
At night the animal noises in camp were great, no generator noises and no lights, only candles and torches.
The staff at camp were brilliant, so friendly and knowledgeable about the park. The guy was a keen
photographer and showed us all where the birds were in camp.
Our final night was spent in the bird hide at Sable Damn. It was brilliant. They provide a composting toilet and some water to wash hands with but you bring the rest. The beds fold out of the wall and there is a communal area for braaing in. Unfortunately we had no real animal sighting apart from the bat flying around our heads while we slept. I would really recommend this, however theres no chance of a lie in as you probably have 30 minutes once the gates open before you may get visitors!!!
I had a great time in the Kruger and Im glad I've done it but I still prefer the Kgalagadi if I'm honest. Even in the dry heat of summer!!
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